Ring debarkers with rotary cutters are particularly adapted for debarking logs with long fibers, such as cedar. Accurate control of the pressure on the cutters is required for effective debarking without damaging the log surface beneath the bark. As the debarker ring rotates, each swing arm and respective rotary cutter are effected by centrifugal and gravity forces. During each rotation of the ring, the effect of gravity on each arm changes because the orientation of the arm varies between horizontal and vertical positions. It has been found that the resulting variance in force exerted by the cutters acting on the bark is significant to debarking performance, even though, in the past, the debarking arms have been biased by air cylinders to swing inwardly with respect to the ring to compensate for centrifugal force and provide a net debarking force on the rotary cutters.